The Pianta Problem
by wolfiecaw
Summary: Mario tries to enjoy a well deserved vacation but Bowser's here to ruin it again. However, things end differently this time...


**Note: Piantas weren't in Odyssey and that made me a lil sad so here's this fic to make up for it also Cappy's not here and I named that one Pianta in Super Mario Galaxy 2 because damn it they deserve names!**

Mario stepped on the sand. As he ran toward the volleyball court, he would stop occasionally to look at the footprints he'd made. It made him giggle, but also reminded him of how far he's come. He couldn't even count how many times he'd beaten Bowser, how many different places he'd crushed the Koopa King. However, now was not the time for that. It was time for vacation! Mario took in the sight. The water in Bubblaine was so clear, so fresh. The sand was warm and soft, and the sky was bright and sunny. Mario walked a little more until he finally reached the resort. There was a rooftop garden, a VIP relaxation room, and a volleyball court. Mario sat down on a beach chair, closed his eyes, and thought, _I deserve this_. The sun was so bright, he had to put on some sunglasses. But it was fine, at least the sun wasn't angry. Plus, his shades were Gucci.

"This is the life," Mario yelled aloud. He looked around him, taking in the sight once more. It was so beautiful, everything was at peace. Deep down he knew Bowser would do something stupid again eventually, but he had this time to relax. Suddenly, a little blue Pianta walked up to Mario.

"Oh wow! It's Mario! I haven't seen you in a while," he exclaimed. Mario recognized him as well.

"You're the little lad who tipped me off about the Silver Stars on Starshine Beach Galaxy! Thanks for that, you were a big help. I never caught your name though," Mario replied politely. While he did want to relax, he would never be harsh to a fan. And this one in particular had helped him. How couldn't he be nice? The blue Pianta smiled.

"My name is Iggy! A-and it was nothing, really!" the blue Pianta answered, blushing out of excitement. He had been praised by _the_ Mario! His day was made, he even danced a little out of joy.

"Well, Iggy, why don't you come take a seat next to me?" Mario suggested. He'd taken a liking to this little fellow. Iggy jumped up into the air.

"Oh, I would love to," Iggy exclaimed, "But I'm afraid I must go back to my family. They're over by Nature's Hot Tub!" Iggy looked down at his feet in shame, but Mario got up and pat him on the back.

"It's okay, buddy! I'll see you around!" he said, his voice hopeful. Iggy smiled at Mario. _What a nice guy, that Mario_ , he thought to himself. But with that, Iggy scampered off, flinging sand everywhere.

"Bye bye, Mario!" he called behind him. Mario smiled and waved into the distance as Iggy ran into the sunset. Slowly, he plopped himself back into his beach chair.

"There are some pretty great people in the world, huh," Mario thought aloud. He'd be sure to remember that Iggy, and he hoped he'd made the right impression. The last thing Mario wanted was to let down a fan. Gazing up at the sky, Mario basked in the sun as he thought about all his past adventures. All the fun he had, all the places he'd been, how shady the sky was. _Wait a second, that's strange, why is everything darker now?_ Mario asked himself. Indeed, the beautiful sunlight was now dimmed by a shadow. Slowly but surely, Mario turned his head to his right and pried off his sunglasses. He tried not to scream, as he came face to face with a deadly sharp spike attached to an enormous green shell. He facepalmed. Of course his vacation would get ruined this way. There's no such thing as a day off for Mario, is there?

"Hello, BOWSER," Mario said in a passive aggressive tone. He cleared his throat near the end. Suddenly, the shell turned over and Bowser's face was in its place. For a split second, Bowser was shocked, but then he, too, groaned.

"Of course you had to be here," Bowser mumbled. He adjusted his bracelet and picked at his nails, then punched the sand.

"I should say the same to you," Mario said, spitting sand out of his face. He was annoyed and shook his head.

"I'm _sorry_ I accidentally planned my vacation at the same time as you. Junior and the Koopalings were very insistent. What am I supposed to do, leave? You wouldn't crush a child's dreams, right?" Bowser replied. He was trying to drive Mario into a corner. He may not have won their fistfights, but Bowser hoped to at least win this pesky little argument. _Guilt tripping is always the way_ , Bowser thought and grinned.

"Look, how about we call a truce, we've done so before. I mean, can you even count how many times we've played sports together? I just want to swim and relax and have fun in Bubblaine. You can do whatever with your kids. But do NOT come near me!" Mario tried to reason. The sun was almost gone, which meant he already wasted one day. He hoped his next day would be better than this one. Luckily, Bowser nodded.

"Yeah, sure, whatever, don't wanna see you either. Ludwig is still kinda pissed at you, but I'll talk to him. Do the one on one stuff. Darn, being a dad is hard. Anyways, bye sweaty," Bowser replied angrily, letting a little too much information slip out his mouth. Mario was shocked at hearing this new side of Bowser, but he was mostly at ease since he wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. The two of them got up to get ready to go back to their hotels, and went on their merry ways. However, nothing ever works out that way, and Mario wanted to tease Bowser. Just a little bit. As he walked away, Mario grabbed onto Bowser's tail and grinned.

"Hey, let go! What are you-" Bowser roared but was cut off. Mario had begun to spin him around and, before long, Bowser fell face first into a clump of sand.

"So long, big Bowser!" he yelled. Mario almost fell over laughing, reminded of the days when he _had_ to do that to defeat Bowser. The ground under him shook, probably from Bowser roaring while having his head stuck. Mario dipped his hands into the nearby water to rinse the sand out, then rubbed the tears out of his eyes. What a way to end the day! He scurried off to his hotel, hoping Bowser wouldn't chase him, and was ready to get some rest. He triple jumped happily, and quickly tucked himself to sleep once he got to his room. The view of his window was beautiful, Bubblaine at night was a joy. The moon reflected on the water, and he could see the stars. But just as Mario was about to doze off, he could've swore he heard Bowser yell,

"You'll pay for this, Mario!"

The next morning, Mario set off for Nature's Hot Tub to see Iggy. He even brought some seashells he'd gathered from his run that morning in a basket. Bubblaine was full of them, each shell more beautiful than the last. Mario walked briskly, taking in the scenery. He even swam, as Cappy was in Bonneton thus he couldn't capture any fast swimming creatures. It was okay, though, this was _his_ vacation. To be honest, Mario found Cappy just the slightest bit overwhelming. Eventually, he made it to the grassy patch of land that had Nature's Hot Tub at the top. He made his way up and saw… three Pianta crying. He ran over as soon as possible, worry filling up his gut.

"What's wrong?!" Mario cried. Just the sight of the distressed Pianta bothered him. He pat one of them on the back to calm them down.

"Our son," began a pink Pianta, "our son Iggy had been captured! He was taken away by some monster named Bowser!" Mario gasped. Iggy had been captured? _Oh, of course, petty Bowser_ , Mario concluded. _This_ was Bowser's payback.

"Don't worry, I'll rescue your son," Mario looked at the pink Pianta in the eye with a determined gaze. He was going to save Iggy no matter what. It was partially his fault, after all. _I should've never thrown Bowser! What a fool I am_ , Mario regretted. He took one last look at the fretting Piantas before he took off. Long jumping down, Mario was back on the sand again.

"Bowser!" he yelled, as if it would call the brute's attention. Other than that, he had no idea where the guy could be. He saw some binoculars in the distance, but without Cappy he couldn't possess it. Thus, he was stuck in this big wide wacky world with no idea where Bowser could be. But he had promised the three Piantas he would get their son back, and he would not back down on that.

"Let's see…" Mario pondered where he should look first. Water surrounded him, only a bit of sand and grass in sight. Bubblaine was beautiful, but for some reason Mario was getting sick of it. Maybe it was because his vacation was spoiled yet again by Bowser. He looked up at the Glass Tower in the center of it all, and hoped for a sign. Anything to tell him where poor Iggy went!

And Mario did see something. He saw Iggy himself, in a cage at the bottom of it! He was banging the wall like his life depended on it, which it probably did. Mario gasped.

"Iggy! I'm coming to save you!" he called, running toward the nearest fountain that could propel him to the tower. However, he noticed that at the top of the Glass Tower was Bowser himself, and he was laughing!

"If you want to get to your little friend here, you'll have to pass me! Hahahaha!" Bowser warned from the top of the tower. Mario bit his lip. However, he wasn't going to let Bowser get the best of him. He could come up with a comeback, he could!

"So no more Peach, you're now set on marrying Iggy?" Mario yelled from below. Bowser flinched.

"DOES IT LOOK LIKE PEACH IS HERE, YOU FOOL?! Goodness, I figured if I captured your friend it'd hurt ya!" Bowser roared. All of Bubblaine could hear their argument at this point. Mario giggled at his own joke, but took a deep breath because it was truly a serious matter. He rode the jetstream up to the Glass Tower and landed on the platform where Bowser stood as well. It was small, and water surround them. It would be an interesting fight.

"Listen, loser, we made a truce and you went back on it. Do you know how hard it is to explain to eight tiny children why you came home with sand up your ass? Do you?" Bowser explained, glaring at Mario like he was ready to kill. Mario tried to hold back his snickers, and instead tidied his mustache.

"Well, I'm sorry, though what you did is hardly payback. It's much worse! That Pianta is just a little boy! A baby boy! Baby!" Mario refuted, his voice cracking a bit. He cracked his knuckles, and Bowser did the same.

"Well, this is too small of an arena to fight in. So how about we play rock paper scissors?" Bowser suggested rather calmly for a big Koopa ready to fight. Mario raised his eyebrows. There had to be a catch.

"Sure," he agreed anyways. Bowser smiled and extended his hand out, clenched the fist of the other. Mario did the same.

"Rock, paper, scissors says… SHOOT!" the two exclaimed in unison. Bowser's fingers were scissors, Mario's fist stayed clenched. Bowser sighed.

"Darn, I guess you win again," he announced and began to stomp out of the Glass Tower. Mario was very confused. Bowser accepted his loss? Just like that? And he seemed so sad, too. They were enemies, but he… felt bad. Mario didn't like seeing anyone sad. Not even Bowser. He took a few steps toward Bowser, even though his shell was facing him. Meekly, he called out,

"Hey Bowser, after I get Iggy, do you want to play some volleyball? My hotel is near the court." Bowser stopped right in his tracks and slowly turned his head. To Mario's surprise, Bowser's eyes were glistening.

"You'd let me play? With you?" Bowser asked, his voice full of doubt but also gratitude. Mario smiled softly and nodded.

"Yeah, and you can bring your kids, too," he affirmed. Bowser ran up to him and picked him up, twirling him around in a big hug.

"Wow! You're so nice, Mario! Why did I ever hate you?!" he exclaimed as he spun around like a Spindrift. Mario laughed a big hearty laugh. But suddenly, a voice interrupted them.

"Hey guys! P-please get me out of here!" Iggy called from the bottom of the Glass Tower. Bowser froze, alarmed. Mario squirmed out of his arms.

"I'm so sorry Iggy, I'll be right there!" Mario gasped as he dived into the water. Bowser giggled. _What a nice guy, that Mario_ , he thought.

The next morning, Bowser and his family made their way to the volleyball court. Iggy and his family also came along, and of course, Mario was there. They divided into two teams, one with six people and the other with seven. It was a sight to see; Piantas, Koopas, and Mario, all getting along. The Bubblainian volleyball coach twiddled his mustache. In all his life, he'd never seen a sight as beautiful or peaceful as this. Enemies who became friends, standing on the same sand, the same volleyball court. Everyone was smiling and the sun was shining. It was a truly beautiful day. And with that, the volleyball coach blew his whistle.

"Start the game!"


End file.
